Monday, November 12, 2007

we interrupt this regularly scheduled...

I am a bad piano owner. For the first time in this piano's life, it had to wait, uhh, maybe 3 and a half years to be tuned. That's way too long. So, this morning, as part of my "get my life back in order campaign," a lovely efficient and professional tuner came to my house at 8:30 AM. Ping Ping Ping. Adjust pitch. Ping Ping. Adjust. Switch to next key...

Now, those of you who have pianos know the noise. It's not music. If you don't have a piano, it might not bother you too much, but let's just say two hours of it doesn't help anyone get much done. I felt so proud. I focused hard and ignored the noise. I ordered b-day presents for people, wrote overdue emails, caught up. Ping ping ping. Chord. Cadenza. Ping Ping.

To answer the question I hear from my gentle blog readers--I started playing when I was about 6. My parents bought me this piano, and it is now mine, forever. I also play/played guitar and saxophone. I played sax and sang all the way through college, in jazz ensembles. Then, sadly, I couldn't keep up with it anymore while teaching, going to grad school, etc. I am a slacker. I hope to get back into it all someday, when I live in a place where that might be easier for me to do in my daily life. Ping ping ping. Adjust. Ping Ping. Chord.

I felt an enormous whoosh when I'd paid the tuner and he left. What relief! What cosmic karmic release of piano guilt!! Maybe it was just the amazing quiet in the house. So I didn't rush to play the piano or anything, so what? I started working so I could submit book stuff to my editor. I answered some more email. I ate lunch. I did an errant load of laundry or two.And then...this happened, out my front window. Why did the gas company need to drill this afternoon? Why? Ping Ping. Brrrrr. Rattle. Men talking in the street. My dogs bark at them. The house vibrates from the drilling.

You get the picture. It is not quiet. Well, it seems to be now, actually, after I have given up all hope of work, but whatever. I tried.

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments regarding how designs work. We've all had the failures, and I laughed heartily over some of your comments. It helped me get back into good humor about the whole thing...and I heard that a certain uncomplimentary blog entry had been erased, too, which also is probably better in the end, too. My shoulder is somewhat better too, thanks for asking, but I've still got an appointment for Zero Balancing next week, which I'm not cancelling. This sounds like hooey until you try it--well, anyway, it works better than other forms of massage therapy for me, for this recurring hurt. On a totally different topic...

This year, I'm really enjoying the start of sweater season. I feel like I'm bonding with old, worn, slightly forgotten friends. I take out a cardigan and think "Hey buddy! How the heck are you? Give me a hug!" Ahh. Sweaters. Fall. I'm enjoying it. Might make pot roast for dinner...and you, wonderful readers? Are you enjoying sweater season? Get your piano tuned after turning on the heat? What's up with you?

Slow-roasted sweet potatoes, pasta with pesto from our homegrown basil, locally grown beet greens. Here, 'tis the season to enjoy the fruits of our local-food-focused summer, which featured nary a stitch of knitting. And, of course, 'tis the season to knit again!

I have a lovely man for a piano tuner myself, and after 20 years of working on my grandmother's old piano, we are old friends who look out for each other. He often plays for awhile after he's done tuning, just because he knows it makes me happy.

The more often you tune, the less they have to do, the faster it goes, and the more time to visit and catch up a bit!

About Me

Joanne Seiff enjoys making things from scratch; she's been knitting since she was four or five and spinning since she was 12. Joanne is a writer, knitwear designer and educator. She's often walking Sadie and Sally (her bird dogs), spinning, knitting, gardening, cooking, and spending time outdoors with her twins and Jeff, her absent-minded biology professor husband, who studies butterfly genetics.